This month I’m sharing my personal picks for best kid-friendly vacation spots. Every family is different—and, mercifully, my children have not hit the teen years yet—so the places I’ve chosen won’t suit everyone, but they’re the ones that have worked best for me (exhausted working mom), my husband (exhausted stay-at-home dad), and our kids (hyperkinetic eight- and nine-year-old boys). Together the four of us made a list of the 30-or-so resorts we’ve been to as a family, and then we deliberated, debated, and drilled down until we ended up with our top 12. Because a child’s perspective is crucial, Charlie, my almost-ten-year-old, has contributed his own review of each resort and his advice for kids heading there. And we’ve rated each property on a scale of 0 to 5 smiles.

Coral Beach Club, St. Maarten

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Why it made my list:** Because who doesn’t dream of a Caribbean beachfront villa where you can step off your private terrace right onto the sand and where, thanks to clever architectural design, your children can run from living room to terrace to pool to beach and back again yet always remain in your sight without you ever having to move from your lounge chair?

What I liked most: Coral Beach Club is a terrific base for exploring the Caribbean island of St. Maarten/St. Martin. It’s right on the Dutch/French border, which means you can quickly reach the can’t-miss family activities of the French side—The Butterfly Farm, the zip-line at Loterie Farm, the weekly festival in Grande Case, the mud baths on Tintamarre Island—while also having convenient access to the boating and water sports infrastructure of the Dutch side. Coral Beach Club is not a hotel: It’s a set of private rental residences, each with a kitchen, washer/dryer, and free wi-fi. I rented villa 5, also known as Villa Starfish—which has three bedrooms but you can use and pay for only two—and you can read my full review here. Coral Beach Club is not designed specifically for families, but it sure worked well for ours. The kids loved the quirky pool with a sunken gazebo in the middle—accessible via a little walkway from the terrace—where you can lounge on pillows, shaded from the sun. We saved a ton of money on meals because we had a kitchen—which, thanks to daily maid service, we never had to clean. For dinner we could walk three minutes down the beach to a casual oceanfront restaurant where our kids could play in the sand while we ate. And a particularly parent-friendly touch is Villa Starfish’s outdoor shower (for washing off sand) that opens into the indoor shower of one of the bedrooms.

But keep in mind: First, the ocean is a little rough. The surf was perfect for my kids, who were 5 and 6 at the time and loved wiping out on their body boards and getting lots of sand in their swimsuits, but it could be too powerful for timid young swimmers. Second, you definitely need a rental car. Marilyn Pulito of Villas in Paradise can set you up with one and get you a discount too. Third, there is no children’s program. And there are fewer kids for yours to play with than there are at, say, the Westin St. Maarten, which sits on the same beach just down the road. Note, though, that my family spent five nights at the Westin after our villa stay and, in spite of its kids’ programs and amenities, all four of us far preferred Villa Starfish.

**Says Charlie: **“Coral Beach Club didn’t have a kids’ club, but it’s still a great place to go with kids because you can boogie board in the ocean right outside and you can even go skinny dipping in the pool. Each villa has a different shaped pool and inside the pool was a little island with seats and pillows so you could sit down and eat ice cream in the middle of the pool without even getting wet. And you could swim under the bridge to the island. You’ll want to spend a lot of time in the pool, but my advice is to make day trips too. You can do the pool one day, then go to the butterfly farm the next day, then do the pool the day after that, then go zip-lining the day after that. And you can make day trips to Anguilla and St. Barts too. You can go to a Dutch country, a French country, and a British country all in one trip.”

**My rating: **4.5 smiles

Charlie’s rating: 4 smiles

**Book through: **Marilyn Pulito of Villas in Paradise. Marilyn is on the island half the year, and her advice will prove invaluable to you. She will do everything from recommend parent-friendly grocery stores to deliver beach and pool toys to your door.